Notts is top for car thefts

Nottinghamshire is one of the country’s hotspots for car thefts, according to new figures.

Data obtained via the Freedom of Information Act by esure car insurance revealed the county is twelth in the UK for car thefts, with 4382 cars stolen there between January 1 2014 and August 31 2016. The most prolific area for thefts was the NG8 postcode in Nottingham.

Figures from over half (58 per cent) of all UK police forces show that while car theft increased last year, the number of thieves caught and charged fell over the same period.

At the same time, while thefts from vehicles in the UK remained at similar levels only 2.7 per cent were caught and formally charged in 2015 – falling from 3.4 per cent in 2014.

Jon Wilshire, chief underwriting officer at esure, said: “Car crime is up in many areas across the country despite cars becoming increasingly hard to steal. These statistics suggest that part of the reason for this trend is that thieves know they can get away with it as they are unlikely to get caught, and even if they do very few face a custodial sentence.

“Stealing a modern car without keys is difficult so the majority of thefts we see are when thieves get hold of car keys either by breaking into a property or stealing them from personal belongings. In addition, thieves have adapted to modern security technology, developing techniques to combat keyless entry systems and immobilisers.

“Drivers need to keep their car keys in a safe place away from windows and front doors and consider fitting a tracker if their vehicle is expensive.”